J. R. R. Tolkien’s: The Silmarillion

As a huge fan of J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings series, I felt as though I must review The Silmarillion, now that I finally have had a chance to read the book (major thanks to the friend who lent me their copy!). The Silmarillion is often referred to as “the Bible of Middle-Earth,” and for good reason. A collection of tales split into five parts, The Silmarillion details the creation of Ea (the world that is), as well as the historical events that took place prior to the First Age (the other books take place during the Third Age, for those who don’t know). Due to the nature of the book, it is hard to pinpoint exactly what the book’s plot is. That being said, the meat of the book details the war for the three sacred jewels, the Silmaril, which were held by the greatest enemy that the Ainur (a godlike race that created the world), Morgoth. Quick trivia: Morgoth’s description was used for the “armored Sauron” seen in The Lord of The Rings movies.

From a technical perspective, The Silmarillion is, in my opinion, the greatest of Tolkien’s works. While his writing is always vivid and easily captures the imagination, the grand setpieces and events that are present in The Silmarillion are on a masterful scale that, quite simply, have not been matched in any piece of fiction that I have ever read. The characters are incredibly intriguing, though you do not become especially attached to anyone, due to the fact that the book is primarily made up of shorter stories: the focus is on the history and development of the world, rather than the individuals (with a few obvious exceptions in characters that play a major hand in the history of Middle-Earth). All-in-all, I have to recommend this book to any fans of Tolkien who wish to truly delve into the world of Middle-Earth. There are scores of information in The Lord of the Rings series and The Hobbit that the reader has no idea about until they read The Silmarillion. If you want to know more about the series, you owe it to yourself to pick up a copy of J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Silmarillion as soon as possible.

Source: Jake Depew, Assistant Editor